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The 30c stamp issued by the Cook Islands in 1975 shows most probably the flagship of the expedition the SAN PEDRO.

Since none of the expedition after Magellan from Loaisa to Villalobos had succeeded in taking over the Philippines, King Charles I stopped sending colonizers to the Islands. However, when Philip II succeeded his father to the throne in 1556, he instructed Luis de Velasco, the viceroy of Mexico, to prepare a new expedition – to be headed by Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, who would be accompanied by Andres de Urdaneta, a priest who had survived the Loaisa mission.The vessel for this fleet were built in New Spain and completed in 1564, two galleons, two pinnaces and a small boat which was put on the poop-deck of the flagship. Not much is known on the ships. The flagship was the SAN PEDRO 550 ton skippered by Mateo del Saz, the other three were the SAN PABLO 400 ton, SAN JUAN around 80 ton and SAN LUCAS 40 ton, the small craft did not carry a name, given as brigantine rigged.21 November 1564 the small fleet set sail from Puerto de Navidad, Mexico with on board a total of 350 men.The fleet set a westerly course in the latitude 9-13N. making a call at Guam from 23 January till 3 February 1565, reaching the Samar Islands on 13 February. From there sailed through the Surigao Strait to Cubu IslandOn 13 February, 1565, Legaspi's expedition landed in Cebu island. After a short struggle with the natives, he proceeded to Leyte, then to Camiguin and to Bohol. There Legaspi made a blood compact with the chieftain, Datu Sikatuna as a sign of friendship. Legaspi was able to obtain spices and gold in Bohol due to his friendship with Sikatuna. On 27 April 1565, Legaspi returned to Cebu; destroyed the town of Raja Tupas and establish a settlement. I can find only that the SAN PABLO returned back to New Spain and the SAN LUCAS which had lost contact with the fleet and after made a call in the Philippines returned back to New Spain also. I have not any fate of the vessels of the fleet.This ships are the beginning of the famous Manila galleons who for the next 250 years made the passage over the Pacific, at least 1 ship a year was making a voyage.

Friar Andrés de Urdaneta, O.S.A., (November 30, 1498 – June 3, 1568) was a Spanish circumnavigator, explorer and Augustinian friar. As a navigator he achieved in 1536 the "second" world circumnavigation (after the first one led by Ferdinand Magellan and Juan Sebastián Elcano and their crew in 1522). Urdaneta discovered and plotted a path across the Pacific from the Philippines to Acapulco in the Viceroyalty of New Spain (present day Mexico) used by the Manila galleons, which came to be known as "Urdaneta's route." He was considered as "protector of the Indians" for his treatment of the Filipino natives; also Cebu and the Philippines' first prelate. Early yearsUrdaneta was born in the town of Ordizia in the Basque province of Gipuzkoa, Spain. He would have gone to sea at a young age, as was typical of the time.ExplorationUrdaneta was one of the few survivors of Loaísa Expedition to reach the Spice Islands late in the year 1526, just to be taken prisoner by the Portuguese. Undaneta spent the next eight and a half years in and around the Spice Islands, but eventually he managed to return to Europe in the Portuguese India Armada and under Portuguese guard. Upon his arrival in Lisbon on June 26, 1536, he achieved the second world circumnavigation, or rather the third or even the fourth circumnavigation in history, considering that Magellan and some of his men had been in the regions of Malaysia and Indonesia a decade before reaching the Philippines, or the route taken by other crew members of Magellan's expedition and later returned to Europe after Elcano`s ship, who were also brought by the Portuguese from Moluccas and then released in Lisbon. Urdaneta accomplished his trip around the world through a journey which lasted just shy of eleven years. In Lisbon the Portuguese authorities confiscated his charts and letters. Urdaneta then escaped to Spain, where he recreated much of the confiscated material, and presented it to the Spanish Court. King Charles I of Spain did not give him a very favourable reception either, and, wearied by his many adventures, he returned to New Spain and there entered the Order of Hermits of St. Augustine.At the death of the viceroy, Don Luís de Velasco, in 1564, New Spain had passed under the government of the Audiencia, one of whose first cares was to equip an expedition for the conquest and colonization of the Philippines. This had been ordered by Philip II in 1559. Friar Andrés de Urdaneta having been designated as the Commander, the Viceroy had the matter under consideration at the time of his death. Urdaneta was considered a great navigator and especially fitted for cruising in Indian waters. Philip II wrote urging him to join the expedition and offering him the command. Urdaneta agreed to accompany the expedition but refused to take command; the adelantado, Don Miguel López de Legazpi, was appointed as Commander. The expedition, composed of the Capitana, which carried on board Legazpi and Urdaneta, the galleons SAN PABLO and SAN PEDRO, and the tenders SAN JUAN and SAN LUCAS, set sail on November 21, 1564.Urdaneta founded the first Church dedicated to St. Vitales in the Philippines and the Basilica del Santo Niño and served as the first prelate of the Church in Cebu. After spending some time in the islands, Legazpi determined to remain and sent Urdaneta back for the purpose of finding a better return route and to obtain help from New Spain for the Philippine colony. (For the problem of sailing east across the Pacific, which Urdaneta solved, see Manila Galleon and Volta do Mar.) Urdaneta set sail from San Miguel (the island of Cebu), on June 1, 1565 and was obliged to sail as far as 38 degrees North latitude to obtain favourable winds. With the voyage in trouble, Urdaneta had to assume command himself. The ship reached the port of Acapulco, on October 8, 1565, having traveled 12,000 miles (20,000 km) in 130 days. Fourteen of the crew had died; only Urdaneta and Felipe de Salcedo, nephew of López de Legazpi, had strength enough to cast the anchors.Upon arriving, Urdaneta discovered that a member of the crew of his expedition, Alonso de Arellano—who had abandoned them just after leaving the port—had actually beaten them across the ocean, arriving at Barra de Navidad in Jalisco in August of the same year. However, Arellano's notes were far less precise and professional than Urdaneta's, and so the latter's route became the famous and trusted one.LegacyFrom Mexico, Urdaneta went to Europe to make a report on the expedition and then returned to New Spain, intending to continue on to the Philippines, but he was dissuaded by his friends. He wrote two accounts of his voyages: one giving the account of the Loaiza expedition was published; the other, which gives the account of his return voyage, is preserved in manuscript in the archives of the Council of the Indies.For the remainder of the 16th and 17th centuries, Spanish ships, particularly the annual Manila-Acapulco trading Galleon, used "Urdaneta's route."Urdaneta died in Mexico City in 1568.

The Houqua was an early clipper ship with an innovative hull design, built for A.A. Low & Brother in 1844. She sailed in the China trade. The Houqua was named "in honor of the beloved Canton Hong merchant Houqua, who had died the year before, and with whom the Low brothers had traded with in China for many years." Houqua, (also spelled Howqua or Hoqua), was the most prominent Hong merchant of the day. He "was to take her delivery in China as a warship on behalf of the Chinese government. However, upon arrival, she was found to be too small, and so she spent her career in merchant service for A.A. Low. The Houqua design combined the practical experience of an experienced sea captain with the mathematical insights of a leading naval architect of the time, John W. Griffiths. In 1843, the A. A. Low & Bros. representative in Canton, William Low, and his pregnant wife Ann had been passengers on a very slow and frustrating trip home from Canton with Captain Nathaniel Palmer on the Paul Jones. "To vent his frustration [Captain Nat] began carving a block of wood into the shape of what he thought the ideal hull of a Canton trader should look like, one that .. 'would outsail anything afloat' ... "He incorporated John W. Griffiths' ideas concerning a sharp concave bow with his own ideas of a fuller flat-bottomed hull." Upon arrival in New York, they approached A. A. Low & Bros. with the new design, which was further developed and built by David Brown of Brown & Bell shipyard. Captain Nathaniel Palmer "became an advisor to the Lows as a marine superintendent." In 1853, the ferry Tonawanda collided with Houqua in the fog in New York Harbor, necessitating repairs before she could set sail for San Francisco. "Subsequently, off the Horn, on this passage, she had very heavy weather, lying to, off and on, for many days. On May 5th, in a violent squall, a meteor, apparently about the size of a man’s head, broke at the masthead, throwing out the most violent sparks. Coming down the mast it passed to leeward and the two men standing near were sensibly affected and much frightened." "She sailed from Yokohama, August 15, 1864, for New York, and was thereafter never heard from again. It is assumed she foundered in a typhoon." Rwanda 2013;200f;SG?http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Houqua_(clipper)

She was built at Glasgow in 1869, for Bhaw * Maxton, for their China Tea Clipper Line, and, together with the Ariel and Titania, two sister vessels, was designed expressly for speed. While in the China trade they were assisted in calm weather by steam, having an auxiliary screw. Basil Lubbock in his book "The Chine Clippers" writes: Before turning to the tea race of 1870,I must say words about “Oberon”,the ship which Captain Keay left “Ariel” to take command of. ”Oberon”was experiment of Maxton’s,one of those failures as auxiliary steamers which, when their screws were remowed,proved very fine sailing vessels.It is curious that this was by no means uncommon with early full-rigged steamers.The mention of the following names,the “Tweed”,”Oberon”,Daeling Downs”,”Lady Jocelyn”,and “Lancing” will show how successful the steamship design has been under sail. But her best speed under steam,at a coal concumption of 7 tons a day,was only 7 knots an hour,and she proved to be quite unable to stem a strong head wind and sea. She cost 35000 to build,and thus was a very constly experiment.Her black squad consisted of two engineers and three firemen.These poor wretches had a very bad time in the tropics,as in those days the ventilation of engine room and stokehole was most primitive.Capitain Keay,after a very worrying voyage, managed to get her home from Hankow via the Cape in 115days.He then left her for another troublesome steam kettle. Oberon's second voyage, with a less experienced captain, was an even greater disappointment than her first. She started well by making Port Said under sail alone in 18 days from Plymouth. The sails were then put in the gaskets and steam raised for the passage of the Canal and Red Sea. All went well until she was nearing the southern end of the Red Sea, when a strong southerly wind absolutely stopped her headway. Hoping that this would soon take off, the captain anchored off Mocha. But eight days passed and still the southerly wind blew as strong as ever, so Oberon was at last compelled to beat through Laage Strait under both steam and canvas. This soon consumed her limited supply of coal, and she was obliged to put into Aden to refill her bunkers. Coaling was again a necessity at Labuan. Her next trouble was going up the Yangtze to Hankow. With great difficulty she managed to stem the 7 -knot current as far as the Orphan Rock, but here the current became so fierce that her headway was completely stopped. Thereupon her engineer did what many another engineer was compelled to do in those early days of the steam engine, he jammed down the safety valve and raised the working pressure from 30 to 45 lbs. This desperate expedient just got her past the Orphan Rock in safety. On the homeward run she took 134 days from Hankow via the Cape. Two such voyages were enough. Her machinery was removed, and hence- forth she depended on sail alone with infinitely better results. The Obеron is a composite ship, and a glance at the vessel below shows that for strength nothing can surpass her. Her planking, of teak-wood, is as smooth as glass, and, with her beautiful entrance and fine ran, there Is nothing to prevent her from sailing. ”Oberon” was heavily rigged with three skysail yards,and when under sail alone proved a very fast,handy vessel and splendid sea boat.Her great length (241 feet, with a beam of but 36 feеt.) gives her good sailing power, and that she possesses this power In a remarkable degree has been fairly proved by various performances, which we give as follows : She made a voyage from Melbourne to London in 74 days and from Sydney to Melbourne in 8O days ; was 76 days from London to New Zealand ; made a voyage from this port lo Liverpool in 91 days, and came from Hongkong to this port In 37 days. One of her most remarkable performances was her last round voyage from London to New Zealand, and thence to this port in 121 sailing days, considerable less than the average of passages from New York or England direct to this port. The design of the Malawi stamp is made after painting of Montague Dawson.Malawi:2013;350k;SG?Source:books.google.nl/books?id=iD60BgAAQBAJ&pg=PA302&dq=Oberon+clipper+ship. https://archive.org/stream/cu3192402415 ... 7_djvu.txt. http://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d= ... 2.19&srpos.

On the stamp depicted Royal Navy Landing Craft LCA-1377 carries American troops to a ship near Weymount in Southern England on June 1, 1944, during preparations for the Normandy invasion. British soldiers can be seen in the conning tower. For safety measures, U.S. Rangers remained consigned on board British ships for five days prior to the invasion of Normandy for "Operation Overlord".

The Landing Craft Assault (LCA) was a landing craft used extensively in World War II. Its primary purpose was to ferry troops from transport ships to attack enemy-held shores. The craft derived from a prototype designed by John I. Thornycroft Ltd. of Woolston, Hampshire, UK. During the war it was manufactured throughout the United Kingdom in places as various as small boatyards and furniture manufacturers.

Most LCAs were fitted with a compass. The craft were steered by twin rudders. The LCA propulsion system was designed to be quiet. At low speeds the engines could not be heard at 25 yards. The power-plant, while quiet, has been criticized for being underpowered. Nevertheless the bow lines and small ramp made the LCA a reasonably good sea boat.

Typically constructed of hardwood planking and selectively clad with armour plate, this shallow-draft, barge-like boat with a crew of four could ferry an infantry platoon of 31, with space to spare for five additional specialist troops, to shore at 7 knots. Men generally entered the boat by walking over a gangplank from the boat deck of a troop transport as the LCA hung from its davits. When loaded, the LCA was lowered into the water. Soldiers exited by the boat's bow ramp.

The LCA was the most common British and Commonwealth landing craft of World War II, and the humblest vessel admitted to the books of the Royal Navy on D-Day. Prior to July 1942, these craft were referred to as "Assault Landing Craft" (ALC), but "Landing Craft; Assault" (LCA) was used thereafter to conform with the joint US-UK nomenclature system.

Landing craft could hardly be adored by soldiers required to endure rides in them through any sea conditions. Still, the design’s sturdy hull, load capacity, low silhouette, shallow draft, little bow wave, and silenced engines were all assets that benefited the occupants. The extent of its light armour, proof against rifle bullets and shell splinters with similar ballistic power recommended the LCA. Also, many a Tommy and GI looked favourably upon the luxury of seating in the well for the soldier passengers. Throughout the war in the Atlantic, the Mediterranean, and the Indian Ocean, the LCA was the most likely sea assault transport of British Commandos, United States Army Rangers, and other Special Forces.

Perhaps 1,500 LCAs survived the war in serviceable condition. But many of these LCAs were discarded, as when the LSI HMS Persimmon, returning to Britain from the Far East in 1946, dumped her lower deck LCAs overboard to lighten ship and make better speed. Many LCAs used in the Far East were not sent back to the United Kingdom. Damaged LCAs, along with other damaged landing craft, were sunk rather than repaired. In Cochin, India, at the shore establishment HMS Chinkara (home of the Landing Craft Storage), many LCA were towed out to the 10 fathom mark and sunk by various means from axe to Bofors gun fire. In home waters, the end of the war meant the merchant ships and passenger liners that had served as LSIs were returned to their owners and refitted to civilian trim. This left an LCA surfeit that was sold off for civilian uses. They were popular acquisitions among riparian holiday-makers and canal enthusiasts in Britain. Their holds covered and ramps sealed, LCAs became charming little houseboats.

She was the lead boat from HMS Prince Baudouin to Omaha Dog Beach (D-Day Landing) and gave a dry landing to the 5th Ranger Infantry Battalion troops. During the landing the crew of LCA 1377 not only held their boat onshore, but also used their machine guns to spray the hillside ahead of the troops, hoping to suppress some enemy fire while Rangers left the craft and tried to survive on Omaha Beachead. Just an artillery shell hit the fantail of her but this brave ship survived on Omaha Beach Assault.

New Zealand’s first hospital chapel was built in 1927-28 in the grounds of Christchurch Hospital to commemorate the sinking of the troopship MARQUETTE. This stamp shows part of a stained-glass window within the chapel depicting a First World War nurse above the ship. Beside her a Second World War nurse is shown above the pyramids of Egypt.This window was designed to commemorate the contribution and sacrifice of nurses who served in the First and Second World Wars. It includes references to nurses in uniforms of the times and seven nursing medals. The WWI nurses are seen with a representation of the MARQUETTE in the Aegean while the WWII nurses are depicted in Egypt and the Middle East with association to the pyramids.MARQUTTE: Built as a passenger-cargo vessel under yard No 373 by A. Stephen& Sons at Linthouse near Glasgow for Wilson & Furness, London.25 November 1897 launched as the BOADICEA.Tonnage 7,057 gross, 4,441 net, dim. 149.96 x 15.91 x 9.54m., length bpp. 148.3.Powered by one 3-cyl.triple expansion steam engine, manufactured by builder, 770 nhp, speed 14 knots.Bunker coal capacity 1,100 tons.Accommodation for 120 passenger’s first class.January 1898 completed.15 January 1898 made her maiden voyage from Glasgow to New York, then back to London.18 February 1898 first voyage from London to New York. 7 July 1898 made her last voyage for the company in this service.1898 Bought by Atlantic Transport Line, and in the service between London across the North Atlantic to New York.11 August 1898 her first voyage for her new owners still under the name BOADICEA for one round voyage before renamed MARQUETTE on 15 September 1898.February 1901 she lost two blades of her screw, but was able to reach her destination with only two blades.May 1903 in the English Channel during fog she came in collision with the PREUSSEN, and had to call Southampton for repair.24 March 1904 last voyage London to New York.Chartered September 1905 by the Red Star Line for the service between Antwerp and Philadelphia, her accommodation downgraded to second class.August 1914 made her last voyage for the Red Star Line from Antwerp to Boston and Philadelphia.03 September 1914 resumed London to New York service for the Atlantic Transport Line.30 December 1914 made her last voyage in this service.Was then chartered as a transport by the British Government.19 October 1915 sailed from Alexandria bound for Salonika under command of Captain John Bell Findlay with on board 95 crew, 6 Egyptians, 36 New Zealand nurses’ 12 officers and 143 other ranks of the No 1 Stationary Hospital and the Ammunition Column of the British 29th Division of 449 men. There were also 491 mules and 50 horses on board and ammunition.The Marquette was escorted by the French destroyer TIRAILLEUR, but she left just before the attack.23 October she was sighted by the German U-35 under command of Lt. Cdr. Waldemar Kophamel in a position 36 miles South of Salonika. The MARQUETTE with a speed of 9 knots was torpedoed on 09.15 a.m. and sank after 13 minutes after the torpedo struck, killing 29 crew, 10 nurses and 128 troops.A naval Court of Enquiry was held on the protected cruiser HMS TALBOT in Salonica Harbour on 26 October. The report, dated 3 November, found that no-one was at fault.

New Zealand 2015 80c Sg?, scott?Source: Wikipedia. Dictionary of Disasters at Sea during the age of Steam 1824-1962. North Atlantic Seaway by N.R.P. Bonsor. Merchant Fleets in profile volume 2 by Duncan Haws. Internet.

Ostensibly she was built for the Glasgow & Liverpool Steam Packet, but her appearance was more like a blockade-runner for the Confederacy than an Irish Channel steamer.
1862 Taken over by Fraser, Trendholm & Company, Charleston S.C. and she crossed the North Atlantic loaded with two badly needed marine engines and boilers for some ram-ships, under construction in Charleston. Other cargo on board was 600 barrels of gunpowder, 6 - 70-pound Whitworth cannons, 930 steel-headed Whitworth shells, 35 tons of projectile steel, a machine for molding and some provision, the total value of the cargo was £78.808.

Sailed from London and via Newfoundland, arrived mid January 1863 at Bermuda, she was heavily loaded with a draught of 11 feet, with this draught was she slow, and not very suitable to be used as a blockade runner.
Early in the morning of 29 January 1863 she approached the entrance of Charleston, where she was sighted by the schooner G.W. BLUNT that opened fire and warned the other vessels of squadron.
The steamer USS UNADILLA forced the PRINCESS ROYAL aground, but when boarding parties reached the vessel, most of the crew and passengers had left the ship. Only some British sailors stayed behind on board.

After Union warships towed her free, she was brought north, still with the British sailors on board who were hired by the federal commander, he was short of sailors.
The prize court at Philadelphia sold her and her cargo for $342.000.

18 March 1863 sold to the U.S. Navy Department for $112.000, and she was armed with 2 – 30 pound Parrot rifles, 1 - 11 inch Dahlgren gun and four 24-pound howitzers.
29 May 1863 commissioned under command of Melancthon B. Woolsey as USS PRINCESS ROYAL.
Crew 150.

Assigned to the West Gulf Blockading Squadron.
28 June 1863 had a sharp engagement with some Confederate forces at Donaldsonville, LA, in which USS KINEO and WINONA also participated, driving the enemy forces off.
10 August 1863 she captured the British schooner FLYING SCUD loaded with cotton near Matamoros off the Rio Oranda, Tex.
The rest of 1863 and 1864 used in the blockading service, and she captured several small brigs and schooners.
07 December 1864 together with USS CHOCURA she captured the schooner ALABAMA, which was underway from Havana.
07 February 1865 off Galveston Tex. She and the USS BIENVILLE took several small schooners.

In the summer of 1865 she was ordered to head north and she arrived at 21 July at Philadelphia, where she was decommissioned.

17 August 1865 during a public auction sold to Samuel C.Cook for $54.175, and he renamed her in GENERAL SHERMAN.
Thereafter he sent the vessel to China, which at that time was in chaos because of the Taiping upraising.
The Chinese Government hired some foreign mercenaries of which some defected to the Taiping rebels.
A group of these defectors under command of the American Henry A. Burgevine boarded the GENERAL SHERMAN and on board of her he sailed to Formosa (Taiwan), but the Royal Navy captured her during the voyage. In the encounter Burgevine was killed.

Then her ownership became murky, most probably she was bought by the British firm Meadows & Co in Tientsin (Tianjin), and was she bought or chartered by a American merchant W.B. Preston, who sent the ship to Korea.
She was loaded with merchandise and on 09 August 1866 she sailed from Tientsin, under command of Capt. Page with a crew of 28 and the missionary/interpreter, Robert Thomas, the owner Preston was also on board, after a call at Chefoo (Yantai) for fresh water she sailed to Korea, arriving off the mouth of the Daedong River on 18 August.

05 September 1866 was she attacked near Pyongyang, and the complete crew was killed, the vessel was set on fire. For the attack and killing of the crew see http://www.kimsoft.com/2000Sherman.htmThe GENERAL SHERMAN did not sink she was grounded, but she was not lost, as some sources give; when the river levels rose she was refloated and moved to Seoul.
She was repaired and for some time was she the first engine powered warship of the Korean Navy. Under pressure of China she was handed back to her former American owner Samuel C. Cook in 1867.
Early 1868 bought by William F.Weld Co. Boston, Mass., who was building up his Merchants of Boston SS Co.
After a recondition and alternation she was put in the service from Boston to New Orleans service with accommodation for some passengers.
Her last voyage was, when she left on 04 January 1874 New York with on board a crew of 42 men and 4 passengers and general cargo consigned to New Orleans.
During the voyage the weather worsened and on 07 January at 02.00am. she sprung a leak, and the pumps could not manage the water level pouring in.

Her crew were rescued by the schooner SPRAY and FLORENCE and salvaged some cargo and the baggage of the passengers who disembarked at Wilmington N.C.
10 January the steam tug BRANDT steamed out from Wilmington and found the GENERAL SHERMAN still afloat, she managed to put a hawser on the ship and started towing.
Near Tub’s Inlet, twenty-seven miles from Cape Fear the GENERAL SHERMAN sank.